By Kate Birch
The endless stream of bands being pumped out of sheffield is a little bit mad. There comes a point where the excess of fresh talent emerging to form the brilliant new music flooding into the indie scene, becomes more of a cess pit of factory-made-jump-on-the-band-wagon type noise.
Thats where these guys come in: cue Shark Hotel – pioneering the new, fresh sound of sheffield.
“We were all bored of the majority of sheffield bands.”
A dirty sound with even dirtier sounding vocals. Lethargic melodies give the band’s latest EP, Fake Summertime, a feel so boozey you’re almost drunk. The nonsensical lyrics washed into the mix fit perfectly with such a lazy sound. The only way I can find to sum up the beachy vibe that Shark Hotel exude is Suck it and see era Turner meets Demarco on an underwater special of the Mighty Boosh.
Chris Varney (vocals and guitar) is the band’s front man and musical driving force, and he has some refreshing opinions on music; controversially very anti the same old studio polished, ripped-jeans-and-hair-gel type of indie band that are beginning to swarm the industry. I liked his approach to music a lot – not trying to be something he’s not but working with what is there and constantly moving forward with it.
“Would you rather have a band that evolves, and matures with age like a good wine, or would you rather have catfish and the bottlemen?”
Having worked with Jacob Gandy (guitar) and Mason Miller (bass) most recently, Varney has taken Shark Hotel down a more mellow route that is reminescent of the DMA’s and Turner’s Submarine, and especially shadowing the style of the iconically chilled Mac Demarco. In the midst of finding a new bassist and drummer, Shark Hotel are set to explore their sound yet again from new angles, so watch this space.
The current band is an eclectic mix of very funny characters, with an unprecedented talent of being able to turn any song into ‘ocean man’ by Ween (for those who don’t know; it’s the song from the spongebob movie) – odd, but a talent nonetheless.
If you’re looking for something that’s a little unorthodox to sountrack this summer, or are a fan of Mac Demarco and the DMA’s, Shark Hotel are your band.
